Page 5 - DMEA Week 14 2021

DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA

(SRC) has proceeded to the engineering, pro- capacity through the installation of a new fluid
curement and construction and commissioning catalytic cracking unit and associated units
(EPCC) phase of its project to expand refining like visbreaker, hydrotreating [and] hydrogen
capabilities at the Basrah Refinery, also known plant[s]”.
as Shuaiba, outside the southern oil city. Axens said this week that it continued to be
The Ministry of Oil’s (MoO) Basrah Refin- involved in the project. In a press release, line
ery Upgrading Project (BRUP) will increase director for conversion & clean fuels Jacques
throughput capacity to 280,000 bpd from the Rault said: “The Basrah refinery is expanding its
current level of 210,000 bpd. operations by increasing its gasoline and diesel
The EPC stage is being carried out by Japan’s production while improving the fuels quality.
JGC, which last year was awarded a $3.75bn con- This will help to solve one of the main challenges
tract to build new refining facilities on land adja- to lower national petroleum product imports
cent to the existing 210,000 bpd refinery. revitalising the Iraqi refining sector damaged by
In a press release, JGC said that it had received war and deterioration.”
a lump sum contract covering a 34,500 bpd fluid He added: “South Refineries Co. selected
catalytic cracking (FCC) unit, a 55,000 bpd vac- Axens for its wide and proven experience in
uum distillation unit and a 40,000 bpd diesel refining as a partner to supply technologies but
desulphurisation unit. also to support throughout the whole project.”
The deal is due for completion in 2025, rais- Meanwhile, SRC’s FCC project manager
ing production of gasoline and diesel to 19,000 Ibraheem Al-Salihi said: “With the construc-
bpd and 36,000 bpd respectively. tion contract signed with the Japanese company
JGC’s funding will be provided by the Japan JGC on October 1, 2020 and then activated on
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and February 15, 2021, the project activities started
follows a mid-2019 agreement with Iraq’s Min- according to the agreed schedule. Among other
istry of Finance for a $1bn loan to upgrade the developments, we are pleased to complete this
refinery, which was built in the 1970s. vital and important project that supports the
The MoO has previously said that capacity production of oil derivatives meeting interna-
would be expanded to 300,000 bpd. tional standards and environmental require-
The latest expansion follows successful com- ments adopted in this field and relieves the
pletion in January 2020 of a project to expand the burden of oil products imports.”
Shuaiba facility from 140,000 bpd by Czech firm Both Basra and Nasiriyah were highlighted
Technoexport under an EPC contract awarded by MoO undersecretary Hamid Al-Zawbaei in
in 2015, which also covered increasing the out- late 2019, when he revealed plans to drastically
put of higher-quality fuels. increase the country’s refining capacity.
Technoexport completed installation of a He first talked of plans to add 200,000 bpd,
crude distillation unit at the facility in 2013 then just a few weeks later said that five refineries
and of a catalytic reformer in 2007, and has also would be built adding 790,000 bpd and nearly
worked on several projects at the Daura refin- doubling current theoretical capacity.
ery near Baghdad and for North Refineries Co. Al-Zawbaei said that the refineries to be
(NRC) – the operator of the beleaguered Baiji constructed would be located at Kirkuk (70,000
refinery. bpd), Wasit (140,000 bpd), Nasiriyah (140,000
France’s Axens was selected as technology bpd), Basra (140,000 bpd) and al-Fao (300,000
provider for the new fluid catalytic cracking unit bpd).
in 2011, while Italy’s APS Engineering – which While Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said
has a strategic partnership with JGC – completed in November last year that Baghdad would kick
front-end engineering and design (FEED) work off bidding for a construction contract for the
and JICA approved $430mn in funding for the al-Fao unit on either a build-operate-transfer
project in late 2012. (BOT) or build-own-operate-transfer invest-
French firm Technip – now TechnipFMC ment (BOOT) contract model, little else has
– was brought in as project management con- been heard of the ambitious plans, with incon-
sultant (PMC) in 2015, describing the scheme’s sistency in messaging from the MoO giving
scope as “increasing the gasoline production cause for concern about any progress at all.™

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